Author's Note: First, Merry Christmas to everyone! Second, this story will continue into the Hobbit considering that Bilbo is the one writing this tale. However, I do want to play with the back story a bit more. We will get there, I promise.

Date: TA 2802

Thorin: 56 years old

Lina: 53 years old

"Shhhhh!" The hiss was followed by the sound of someone tripping and falling in the darkness.

"Oof! Get off me, you big oaf!" someone, a male, growled.

"If ye'd stay out from under my feet, ye wouldn't get crushed," a different male answered gruffly.

"Stop it, you two. You're going to get us all caught!" This voice was female, and she sounded more amused than angry.

The males mumbled under their breaths, but the voices quieted. Now one could only hear the rustle of leaves in the dark. A small torch flickered into view through the trees.

Lina and Thorin stood watching as their three friends emerged from the undergrowth into the small clearing. Balin was slightly disheveled and had a smear of dirt across his large nose. Dwalin and Kira were both sniggering at his appearance. The offended dwarf shot his companions a dirty look, but continued without saying a word.

"Here are the stones," he told Thorin gravely, handing the prince a small leather bag. Thorin nodded his thanks. He turned to Lina and held his hand out to her. Her hand fit perfectly into his. A small smile appeared on his lips as he brought her hand up to kiss.

Lina smiled nervously as Thorin led her toward the stone the dwarves had placed in the center of the clearing. It had taken the better part of the allotted week left in Dunland to find the perfect stone. Balin had been the one to spot it on one of his forays out of the settlement. The previous night the two brothers had moved the stone to this clearing, the only one around suitable for the purpose.

When Thorin had first mentioned marrying her, Lina had been torn between ecstasy and agony. On the one hand, she knew she should not marry Thorin if his line was to continue. She had tried to refuse, but he had insisted. He would take no other wife, no matter that his line would not continue with either choice. His declaration had brought tears to her eyes.

Once the decision to wed had been made, Thorin had quietly broached the subject with his father. At first Thrain had been delighted that his son was seriously considering finding a wife. However, when Thorin had hinted that there might be a female in their company he was intending to pursue, Thrain had dismissed the notion outright.

"Love is important, my son, for those who do not have a duty to perform," the king had declared. His meaning was plain. Thorin was to marry for duty, not love as other dwarves could do. His father's rejection of needing love for a marriage to work had further determined Thorin to marry Lina.

The pair had approached their three friends, the only dwarves privy to their secret, for help in carrying out the ceremony. As far as being written in the dwarven records, Thorin would never be listed as married as the union had been all but forbidden by the king. However, all dwarves knew the ritual which bound husband to wife before the Valar.

Balin had, after a few minutes of consideration had agreed to aid them. Lina and Thorin breathed sighs of relief that the wise dwarf was willing to help them. His council had never yet been wrong. Yet even his voice had failed to convince the king that perhaps a suitable wife for Thorin was in the present company. And so, Balin had agreed to secretly aid his friends.

Dwalin and Kira had agreed instantly to do whatever was necessary. They had followed Balin's directions to the letter, gathering the required materials for the ritual. Everything had been made ready for tonight, and so the five dwarves gathered in secret.

Together, Thorin and Lina performed the ritual. As they repeated the promises Aulë had laid out for their forefathers, their joined left hands began to glow softly. The stones over which their hands were joined pulsed with that same gentle light, one more beginning to glow with each promise spoken. When all of the stones had begun to glow, Balin intoned the final declaration over them.

A soft golden light rose up from the stones, forming a dome above their hands. Lina watched in awe as the light twisted about her wrist and Thorin's before winding down to where their fingers met. Golden runes moved in streams over their skin, the promises they had spoken earlier moving as if to tie the couple's hands together. The last of the promises faded, but the golden dome remained for a moment longer. Then, in the same golden runes, a name appeared etched on the third finger of Lina's left hand. A different name appeared on the same finger of Thorin's hand.

Lina looked up at Thorin in joy. Aulë had seen fit to bless the union. The name inscribed upon Lina's finger was Thorin's true, inner name, not that which any Men or Elves, and not all Dwarves may know. Lina's true, inner name was inscribed upon Thorin's finger. The runes faded and disappeared, followed shortly by the golden dome. When the two rose and examined their hands, they found symbols representing the phase of the moon and the season in which the two had been joined permanently inscribed on the inside of their third fingers. Though dwarven records might never record the marriage of Thorin Oakenshield to Lina Firehammer, the Valar had made record of it.

Thorin grasped his wife's hand and pulled her to him. His lips claimed hers. The heat and intensity in the kiss made Lina's body go weak with want.

"We are one, my wife," he murmured.

"So we are, my husband," she whispered. Husband! She was half delirious with joy at the word. As a child she had never dreamed of marrying at all. Even when she had been drawn so inexplicably to Thorin, she had not dared to think of marriage. It was not until the pair had been secretly involved for a couple of years that Lina first began to dream of marriage. Those, she had thought, were dreams only. Now they were her reality.

The three other dwarves present congratulated the pair. Lina was certain Dwalin's enthusiastic hug was going to crack her ribs. Kira kept wrapping her arm around Lina's shoulders and squeezing with all her might. Lina was almost certain that the pair had a bet between them to see who could break bones with their hugs. Balin, though happy for them, was more restrained in his congratulations. He spoke quietly to each of them, offering his suggestion to hide their marriage from Thrain as long as possible. Or to at least wait to reveal their binding to him until after the company had begun their journey.

Thorin agreed that it was probably best to hide the joining for the time being. It would not do to have the journey beginning in anger. The couple watched as their friends vanished back into the darkness to return to the settlement. Once the other dwarves were gone, Lina seized the edges of her husband's coat and pulled him down for a kiss. The kiss led to another, and then to so much more.

A/N: Look for a second chapter later today. Merry Christmas to everyone. :)